CBS New York: City Budget Agreement: Some Expanded Services, No Tax Hikes
The city’s $70 billion budget for the coming fiscal year will preserve and even expand some existing services without raising taxes, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council leaders announced Sunday evening.
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Advocates from the Campaign for Children were particularly pleased with the deal on preserving child care services, particularly since Bloomberg’s earlier budget proposal had called for cuts to 47,000 slots from the child care and after-school systems. But the organization said the city needs to quit threatening to put child care on the chopping block.
But the cuts to day care and after school programs are not off the table permanently. They have only been averted for a year.
Stephanie Gendell of the Citizen’s Committee for Children said the city has engaged in a budget dance where the city threatens nightmare scenarios then saves the day. She said the status quo seem like a victory, when it’s only temporary.
“It creates real instability for the programs, and the families to not know if the programs will be open next June,” she said.
